Visiting Congressional offices

Visiting Congressional offices

This day started with meeting for worship at the Wm. Penn House. I not only wanted to be grounded for today, I had told a few contacts that they should meet me there if they could join me. No one was there to join me, but it was still a nice way to start the day, with silent worship. I started thinking about a story from Iraq at meeting for worship. In September 2004, a US humvee or tank (or something) was hit by an IED. The US troops had left already, but there was a reporter from Al Arabiya on the air, reporting on the attack and the wreckage behind him. While he was on air, US gunships arrived and shot him. His last report, still live on air, was "I'm dying, I'm dying". This was broadcast all over the Middle East.

There was another reporter there, a young man who was an architect in Baghdad before the war, and was now employed by the Guardian newspaper of London. He was taking pictures of the scene, and he wrote up a long report on what happened there. The US gunships came back several times to shoot at the people who were in the area, and I think about 9 or 10 people were killed. None of them had anything to do with the original attack. The reasons the US military gave for coming back to shoot at these people changed several times.

But what I was thinking about in meeting for worship was one man in the scene. He was leaning against a small wall, with his leg bent grotesquely out of shape. He was also bleeding, and he was aware of people around him. He showed no signs in the photos or the reporter's story of pain or fear, he was just mainly looking, looking, looking, down the street - like he was waiting for someone to arrive, for someone to come to him. He was aware of the people around him, and the US gunships coming back to fire, but he didn't seem to be too concerned with them. He was just looking.... and waiting to die.

This story, and the pictures that went with it, reminded me so much of some of my experiences while working in an Emergency Room. On occasion, we would have someone come in who would just be looking, looking, looking, for someone or something. They were dying, but they showed no pain or fear, just looking for someone - like they were already nearby, only the rest of us could not see them.

I got to thinking that maybe the ones who have died in Iraq are really the fortunate ones, since they are beyond all pain and fear. Maybe it is those of us who are still living who are really in hell.

I took this story with me to the congressional offices, and along with the story of the "Miracle Baby" told to me by Mary Trotochaud (of FCNL), which I also retold to several people I talked with today. My first visit was to Walter Jones's office. Jones is a Congressman from the far eastern county of North Carolina, and he has recently decided that going into Iraq was a mistake. He has joined Kucinich in calling for the start of withdrawal in 2006. I wanted to say to him and his office (and I did get to see him briefly) that he is incorrect when he says that over 1,700 people have died and he cannot see what they died for. That number is only the Americans who have died, there is a record of over 29,000+ Iraqis who have been killed so far in our media outlets. That number is not an accurate count, however. I had no trouble getting my display boards into the building, and all the offices did at least look at the display and talk to me about them.

Jones was in the Cannon building, and I went on to visit two more congressman in the Cannon building from North Carolina. Both were Republican and still support the war in Iraq. One was from the Morganton district and the other from the eastern part of the state. I did not write down their names, unfortunately. I just stopped in their offices as I was walking by since I did not have an appointment with them. Then I visited Congressman Taylor's office. I was supposed to speak to Adam Shepard, but instead spoke to Jill Nelson. I now know that Adam was the legislative assistant and Jill was a correspondent. It would have been better to talk to Adam, but I think they did this switch on purpose. Jill took me to a private room to look at the Iraqi Civilian Casualties Display boards. She did listen and she seemed sympathetic.

I carried the display boards back to my car, and moved my car before I got a ticket. Then, I ate an early lunch, and moved my car again, this time to the Union Station garage. Having a car with you in DC is a hassle and parking somewhere is expensive. Not moving it every two hours gets you an even more expensive ticket.

When I walked into the Cannon building, I was approached by Senator Reid's (NV) congressional aide. I am not sure I am spelling his name correctly, but he told me that Reid was the minority leader of the Senate. He really liked the display boards, and asked me to bring them to his office, but I did not have time for that one.

I then carried the display boards to Senator Byrd's office. He is the longest serving member of the Senate, and I wanted to thank him for his antiwar stance. I was supposed to see one of his congressional aides, but somehow that did not work out. I went from there to visit Senator Lautenberg's office. They have a display of the fallen Americans outside their office. I just stopped in this office because I had not made an appointment. They were very impressed with my display boards and wanted their press people to see them, but the press people were in a meeting. I told them how they could make such boards. I then went on to visit Senator Dole's office, and the young staff there were very interested in the display boards and seemed rather impressed. I dropped off some literature for her congressional aide. After this, I was waiting in a hallway for some time to pass, since I needed a break. An older gentleman and two young men stopped to look at the display and asked me questions about them. One of the young men asked me if insurgents were on the boards, and I said no because they would be combatants, not civilians.

I stopped in Senator Leahy's office and talked to them about Marla Ruzicka and her work. I also stopped in the two Ohio Senator's office and handed them a poem written by my niece in Ohio. She is 14 years old and wrote a poem two years ago about how the war was over, but that hate and fear live on. These Senators were Dewine and Voinovich. I stopped in Senator Kerry's office to leave a note saying that the military recruitment problem would be much better if the Kerry, Edwards, Bush and Cheney kids all enlisted.

I stopped by Senator Graham's office to give him a letter I had written about the horrible practice of extraordinary rendition. At 4:00 PM, I had an appointment with Senator Burr's office to speak with D'Ann Grady. I was a bit early, and as I was sitting there, I found out there was a closed Armed Services Committee meeting across the hall. I saw McCain, Graham, and Dole go into this room. The room was not marked, and I wonder if the Democratic Senators were told about the meeting. I have heard stories that they were often not told about committee meetings. I also feel that what happened last week at the public Armed Services Committee meeting was a dog and pony show, and I would bet the real "work" of was done in the closed meeting. I wish I could have gone to that meeting.

I talked with Ms. Grady, and while I was talking to her, a group of three business men showed up and went in to talk to Senator Burr. And so it goes..... if you have money, you get to speak directly to the Senators. If not, you speak to some lowly aide, if you are lucky.

And, as I was leaving, I bumped into Senator Dole in the hallway. I immediately told her I was a constituent of North Carolina, and started talking about the display boards and my concerns for the Iraqi Civilian Casualties. She said she had to run to a meeting and suggested I make a copy and leave it with her office. I told her I could not make a copy because they were too big. It was obvious that she did not care at all about my display boards or have any concerns about the Iraqi people. And so it goes.....

We have got to elect a better class of person to run our country and make our laws.

I plan on coming back to DC in September to again visit my Senators and Representative. This time, I hope there are other people joining up with me on this journey. This will be a part of the United for Peace with Justice campaign on September 24, 25, 26.

I hope you can join me.